Last week, Daniel Schulman at Mother Jones points out, Sen. Tom Coburn threatened to withhold his support from an innocuous resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and honoring the late Sen. Gaylord Nelson, who was the impetus behind that celebration and a good deal of environmental legislation. The resolution (H.Con.Res.255), as adopted, can be seen here.
The scuffle broke out over two lines in the House-passed resolution:
Whereas Gaylord Nelson sponsored legislation to ban phosphates in household detergents and to ban the use of Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and he worked tirelessly to ensure clean water and clean air for all Americans; ...
Whereas in addition to his environmental leadership, Gaylord Nelson fought for civil rights, enlisted for the War on Poverty, challenged drug companies and tire manufacturers to protect consumers, and stood up to Senator Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee to defend and protect civil liberties; ...
Coburn got his way, and the lines were changed to:
Whereas Gaylord Nelson sponsored legislation to ban phosphates in household detergents and he worked tirelessly to ensure clean water and clean air for all Americans;
Whereas in addition to his environmental leadership, Gaylord Nelson fought for civil rights; ...
And what was behind the latest tantrum from the junior Senator from Oklahoma, who only looks good on environmental issues in comparison to the senior Senator from Oklahoma?
Coburn's spokesman, John Hart, acknowledges that his boss requested changes to the resolution, which, he quipped, "read like a blog post for the Daily Kos more than a congressional resolution." He explained that Coburn's primary objection to the bill had to do with the section on DDT. "Dr. Coburn's primary concern is that the DDT ban was based on science that has been widely discredited," Hart said. "The DDT ban went too far and contributed to thousands of unnecessary malaria deaths in the developing world." He continued, "Dr. Coburn did not object to the references to McCarthy and civil rights. Unfortunately, Rep. Obey placed those references in the context of various liberal bromides that were not appropriate in context."
This isn't Coburn's first time trying to halt a resolution celebrating an environmental legend due to his pro-DDT position. A few years ago, Coburn placed a hold on a measure celebrating Rachel Carson, the author of the 1962 book Silent Spring, which exposed the environmental hazards of the pesticide.
Yo, Mr. Hart, if Senators are actually going to consider a resolution or some legislation that sounds as if it was written at "the Daily Kos," I have a dozen or so recommendations for them to choose from.
• • • • •
An important diary by A Siegel to read: Very conservative study concludes: aggressive climate action improves economy.
• • • • •
At Daily Kos on this date in 2003:
As Bush administration officials crow about the fast one they pulled on the American people, the Independent reports that intelligence agencies in both the US and UK are furious their work was distorted to justify war.
On nuclear weapons, the British Government claimed that the former regime sought uranium feed material from the government of Niger in west Africa. This was based on letters later described by the International Atomic Energy Agency as crude forgeries.
On chemical weapons, a CIA report on the likelihood that Saddam would use weapons of mass destruction was partially declassified. The parts released were those which made it appear that the danger was high; only after pressure from Senator Bob Graham, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was the whole report declassified, including the conclusion that the chances of Iraq using chemical weapons were "very low" for the "foreseeable future". ...